Tax for Good

Economy
ProjectsJune 12th, 2015

The Wales Act 2014 gives the National Assembly for Wales one of its potentially most important powers to date – the ability to introduce new, devolved taxes.

This project, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, developed proposals for new taxes which could change the behaviour of businesses, organisations and individuals, and help to create a fairer, more prosperous and sustainable Wales.  We were specifically interested in taxes which improve corporate accountability for any social, economic or environmental ‘harm’, and which are not regressive in their impact.

The ‘Tax for Good’ projected ended in June 2016. See below for the outcomes from the project, the final report and other outputs. 

Key impacts

The Bevan Foundation welcomes the Welsh Government’s announcement that it is to introduce a visitor levy in the near future.  A visitor levy, or tourism tax, was one of the key recommendations of this project  and we are pleased that the Welsh Government has acknowledged the Bevan Foundation’s role in putting a tourism tax on the policy agenda.

The Welsh Government’s announcement follows on from the inclusion of a tourism tax in its Cooperation Agreement with Plaid Cymru in 2021, which in turn followed a period of public consultation.

The Welsh Government is now working on legislation to enable local authorities to introduce a levy if they wish, with further consultation expected on the arrangements in the near future.

Key outputs

Publications and articles

Tax for Good: New Taxes for a Better Wales

The final report for the ‘Tax for Good’ project publishes our eight proposals for new devolved taxes, levies and tax credits. The full report and an executive summary are available to download here.

Devolved Taxes: The Context

A working paper that puts the potential for new taxes in the wider context of tax devolution – available here.

Response to Call for Evidence by the Independent Commission on Local Government Finance Wales

Our response to the Commission explains the role that new taxes could play in financing local government in future – read it here.

Response to Consultation on Landfill Disposals Tax

We submitted a response to the Welsh Government’s consultation on the new Landfill Tax – read it here.

Response to Consultation on Land Transaction Tax

We submitted a response to the Welsh Government’s consultation on the new Land Transaction Tax – read it here.

Options for a Welsh Income Tax

Victoria Winckler commented on the Chancellor’s 2016 autumn statement in respect of a Welsh rate of income tax – read it here.

Events

New Taxes for a Better Wales

With keynote presentations by Minister for Finance Jane Hutt AM and David Phillips, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Read the conference report here.

Shaping Policy and Debate

We presented our emerging findings to key stakeholders at:

We also gave evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee’s Inquiry into the Union and Devolution on 21st January 2016 Read our evidence

Our emerging ideas have also featured regularly in the media and in debates in the National Assembly for Wales – examples during the project are listed below. More recent examples are too numerous to list.

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